PORT ARANSAS (CBSDFW.COM/AP) - A San Antonio man landed an 809-pound tiger shark in the Gulf of Mexico after reeling it in for more than seven hours.

Ryan Spring of San Antonio says he caught the shark on Sunday about 5 miles off Port Aransas. He says the 12-foot, 7-inch shark was about as big as his boat and that it pulled the vessel south for more than 15 miles.

“It was a hard fight the whole time,” Spring said to KRLD. “I was wondering, ‘What do I have on here?’ I just had to push through — dig down and find that energy to keep going.”

Fisherman Describes His Experience

It took about a dozen men to haul the male shark onto the dock. It’s only then that he realized just how large the catch was.

“I tried to get a tape measurement and measure it in the water that night,” said Spring. “I was too exhausted and the thing was thrashing around all over the place. It was kind of a shocker when I read the measurements.”

Spring plans to donate meat from the shark to charity.

The catch falls short of the tiger shark state record, which according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is 1,129 pounds.

Spring says the group caught seven sharks the day before — including an 8-foot bull shark — but decided to release them all.